Gullit: Germany and Netherlands have no star players

By Joe Wright

The Oranje legend believes only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar deserve that tag, but singled out Mesut Ozil and Marco Reus for special praise

Ruud Gullit has claimed that Netherlands and Germany have no star players in their ranks, insisting there are only three people in the game who deserve that tag, ahead of the two rivals' friendly on Wednesday.

The Oranje legend believes the current Mannschaft outfit are one of the best national sides in the world, but claims that only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar can be considered true 'stars' of the global game.

"The German national team has developed wonderfully. Your attacking football is fantastic. You have one of the best teams in the world," he told Bild.

However, when pressed on the standout players of the team, he quipped: "Stars? You don't have any stars!

"There are good players, very good players, a couple of excellent ones and exactly three stars. Stars to me are just Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar. Marco Reus is an excellent player, but not a super-super-super-star."

The Euro 1988 winner was quick to point out that the same applies to his own side, adding: "Do Netherlands not have stars? That is right. We rarely have experienced players anymore.

" [Arjen] Robben, [Robin] van Persie and [Rafael] van der Vaart. Other than that, there are many young players in the team. [Wednesday] will be very difficult for us, also because our defence is not that strong."

When asked who from Joachim Low's side he would like to have in the Netherlands' squad, he said: "Give us [Mesut] Ozil! We need him. He is technically perfect. With his short-passing game he would fit perfectly to us."